Foreign objects commonly impact vehicles while in motion. The problem of impact of foreign objects upon aircraft is particularly significant. Foreign objects impacting aircraft during flight include hail, sleet and birds. Additionally, parts, rocks and gravel on a taxiway or runway may also strike an aircraft while on the ground. The problem of impacts of objects upon aircraft has been a major factor which has been growing in significance, especially with increasing capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
When an object impacts upon an aircraft during flight, it may not be noticeable to the flight crew. Even when noticed, the flight crew may not know the location and magnitude of the impact, and the flight crew may not know if the impact resulted in damage, the location of the damage, and the severity of the damage. Conversely, it may sometimes seem to the flight crew that an impact has occurred when in reality no impact occurred. Also, when flying through a storm, it can be difficult to distinguish between soft hail, which may cause no or little damage, and hard hail, which may result in dimples on a leading-edge surface that could affect performance of an aircraft.
When an impact of an object upon an aircraft is suspected by a flight crew, there may be mandatory reporting requirements that require a visual inspection of the aircraft upon landing. False detections of impact by a flight crew may cause significant flight delays. Also, a lack of knowledge of a location of the suspected impact may increase an inspection time due to unnecessary visual examination of portions of the aircraft that were not affected by the impact.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development in field of systems and methods for detecting impacts to vehicle surfaces, and in particular aircraft and systems and methods for detecting impacts to aircraft surfaces.